And it Begins...

So for the past three nights, I have been dreaming Japan. I really don't want to wake up from these dreams either. What's wrong with me? I know I can't possibly get there for 6 months, but I am going to start obsessing now. I did this las time, too, but at least I started in the middle of October and got to leave on the 4th of January. Now I am going to do this for a half a year. Help...

"Run, Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste!"

So here I sit awaiting the time where I have to get ready for work. I will invariably put it off till the last moment wherein I will have to rush and get to work within 2 minutes of being late. Of course, that is what I will do today also. It's habit. I had a great night last night. I went out with Erin to go see Return of the King, which was absolutely amazing! It was good seeing it with Erin also, because we whispered little humorous bits to each other, and not everyone I know would appreciate that. Good movie, good company, what else could I ask for? Today I was unproductive, but I went and got all the info to move into a 2 bedroom apartment with Jason. The total cost between the two of us is going to be a little high. It's going to be $460, plus rent. Ugh. That includes the transfer fee, security deposit, and two application fees. (Kitty is sneaky, and won't be included, hehe). Also, I have been looking at going back to Japan. I would really like to do it, and am starting to obsess so much that I am DREAMING JCMU again. Incidentally, I have stumbled across a website that is maintained by a person over at JCMU *As I Type This!!!!* and posting a lot. Get this, his name is Dave. Crazy huh? Here's the site: Gaijin Dave. One girl in his pics, Kelly, I was in classes with here at EMU. The earliest I could get back would be May, but that is only a 1 month program. But if I piggybacked the May to the Summer to the Fall to the Winter, then I will be there from May-Apr... But it would cost around $26,000 plus toy expenses. I don't think that'll fly. On the other hand, if I try this: Summer Program (Jun-Aug) and Fall (Sept-Dec) together, I get a week off in the middle, and I make my dad come out to visit... That would be fun, but who knows. I really do need to get back there, or I will go crazy. I have the applications already partially filled out. New Year's is a-comin, and I had planned on doing nothing. But I got a random call from Stef who says Rita will be in town. Well shiver me timbers, I haven't seen Ms. Lee in years! So I am now having a couple people over on New Year's. I am having the main gathering on the 4th, but NYE also works. I know Rita, Stef, and, if she's not up north, Erin will be there along with Jason and possibly Grabowski. But who knows. It'll be fun regardless. Okay, time to scrub up so as not to rush to work and be frantic and late.

Christmastime Passed Already

Woke up on Christmas morn, and the ground had flaky, white stuff on it. It was about time. I was not going to be happy with a not-White Christmas. Upon waking and giving the kitties their presents (toys, of course) and a special meal (wet food, not just dry), I relaxed a bit before going over to my bro's for the day. I was actually the first one to get there. Susie was slaving in the kitchen, cheffing it up for us, and Jason and I lazed with video games. My Papa showed up with a surprise guest: my Aunt Dee was down from Canada! About an hour later, two hours late total, my mom showed up with Dave and the kids, David Carter and Diana. We retired to the funky 60s basement to eat out feast. Susie had made up homemade buttermilk biscuits, homemade sausage gravy, thick cinnamon french toast, cheesy eggs, and bacon and sausage, served with a variety of juices. Truly amazing. After said feast, we opened gifts and hung about. I got a cool sweater, Pirates of the Caribbean (yarr..... click), a gift cert to Koyama Shoten, the Japanese grocery store, a really cool wizard thing from David Carter and a little wolf calendar from Diana. When the kids kept getting louder, it was decided they should go home, and Jason and I played bunches of Mario Kart Double Dash. Most excellent. We played until my dad, grandma, granddad and little bro (Kevin) showed up. Susie was already well underway making the dinner feast. We talked for a bit, had a Manhattan, which I will not drink again, and then had dinner. By the way, a Manhattan is 2 shots whisky (blended), 1.5 shots sweet vermouth, and a maraschino cherry on the rocks. No clue how they like them. Dinner was prime rib, green beans almondine, garlicky mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash and big crusty rolls accompanied by homemade au jus and gravy. Dessert was homemade cream puffs with Sanders Hot Fudge. Sweet Sassy Molassey, I was stuffed. After dinner we played Tripoley, a family favorite game. It deals with cards, poker, and is tough to explain here. I'll maybe explain later. Suffice to say I won the game by a factor of three higher than anyone else. I rock. Dad and grandparents eventually left and Kev stayed. We played Double Dash till 1am and then I took Kev to my apartment where we watched Pirates of the Caribbean (yarr....). We fell asleep at 430am, but it's all good. We woke up around 1030 or 11! I'll tell you about the day after in my next entry.

Plans for Another

Gathering is updated: Sunday the 4th to the morning of the 5th. I had the dates wrong in my head! I have tentatively set another little gathering for the 4th of January at night going until the morning of the 5th. Yes, it is overnight, and I do have quite a bit of bedspace. I do this again so that I get to see more people that I couldn't get a hold of before this last gethering, namely Engi, LaGory, Nick, Jeanette, and, of course, lil Rach. Now those who don't wish to drink don't have to stay the night. I am just saying that I have already talked to some people, and we feel if you are going to have a few, you are going to have a *proper* few drinks, such that you should not be able to operate heavy machinery afterwards, such as seed drills, chippers, Etch-A-Sketches, or motor vehicles. So, get a hold of me if you want to join, I will make sure you get the proper directions. You all know my AIM name.

One More Thing....

Oh, and by the way, Stef's eyelashes are still ticklish, even after two years.

Not a party, a gathering.

I had a gathering of friends today. Let me start off yesterday. I got a couch finally, which fit wonderfully in the back of Justin's truck, and in getting, saw my Grandma and Grandpa Berg, then went and visited my dad, saw my Grandma and Granddad Gibb, then lugged the couch in to the apartment. It was rough, and my arm still hurts from the lifting. I went to work, got home just after we closed, and thought I was going to relax. Christina took my router (which I had said she could do, since I only have one working computer anyways), but she couldn't get it to work. I went over there, fixed her internet, and came home, where Justin shortly after joined me. I had gotten Justin hooked on Coupling already, and we decided to watch more of it. Let me tell you, I had never seen this boy ROLL on the floor laughing. We watched it till we fell asleep around 5:30 or 6am. Woke up around 11:30, got Drew over here, and we watched anime till about 2. Then I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, went to Sam's Club with Christina, and people showed up. With everyone shown up, it was Bud, Jason, Rob, Paul, Danny, Chris, Stef, Erin, and Kristen. With me, it made 10, the most I have had in this apartment. I hadn't seen most of these people in around 2 years, and it was good to do so. It was no drunken frat-house style orgy. Wait, don't leave! It was a night of hanging out, drinking some beers, making some others, and hanging out. We started with some stories, and then after Jason and I had a shot of tequila (Cuervo 1800), I was going to make a drink for Stef, who had been obstinantly sober thus far. The ladies remaining (Kristen had already gone home, tired) joined us in the kitchen. Jason decided to get out of the way, and sit upon the counter. He, however, sat in the sink. I got a picture of course. When he got up, he said, "Eh, muffin tin." I said, "Yeah, and chopsticks... Wait, one is missin---" No sooner did I say that, but the remaining chopstick fell from --I hope-- the BACK of his pants. We ALL found this utterly amusing, and he was lying down laughing for a while. I enjoyed it. By this time, I had already made the ladies a drink that I quite enjoy. They liked it too, from what I got. I call it a Drunken Stef. In a rocks glass, with ice (3 large cubes) 1 part Hazelnut Liqueur 1.5-2 part Carolan's Irish Cream stir, and enjoy until Stef is drunk. Or, in the case of tonight, until Erin and Stef are drunk. No, neither of them drank much, and they even didn't finish the drinks to get home safely. It was time for Bud Story Time. He told the stories of his sexual misadventures, which I will not repeat here. Let me say that they are funny, but in that 'Man, that is horrible, how did you put up with it?' funny. When the ladies left, the guys left. But when they got home safely, Bud, Jason, Stef, and Erin talked with me before going to bed. Good to know they're home safe. I've already started planning a night wherein everyone over here does not leave till they've had sleep. This will remove the "I have to drive" excuse, and people will relax a bit. It will be fun. More on that, when it happens. David out, to sleep, then go back to work at 4. Whoopety-doo! I am so happy I got to see EVERYONE these past two days. It was a good couple days. Tonight especially.

Tagging.

So, tonight was the second ever Trainer Outing at Famous Dave's. We, again, went to Laser Quest next to Malarky's, the Irish Pub I like, though it is a bit pricey at times. Before the outing, we met at Cheryl's place for a beer or two, and to just hang out. She has a 50" tv... It was impressive in her little apartment. Don't know how she managed to get it up 4 flights of stairs, though. After a couple drinks, we went to Laser Quest to shoot each other. The first round was the Free For All match. It seemed like I kept running into the same people, since I shot Linda (a Manager's Assistant) 6 times, and every time someone would appear out of the darkness, Kelly would scream. Jason, the manager, was a crazy, out of breath, bat-outta-hell. He would bolt past you, turn around, panting, and shoot, and laugh when he hit. He ended up in 12th out of 15. I, however, with my pseudonym Oni (demon) came in first! Since Linda and I shot each other all the time, we came in the top two spots. Or that's how I look at it. Between games, we ate pizza, and we officially got out Certified Trainer Pins, which I already had (I'm so sneaky). It was time to relax a bit before going in for our second round. We played Boys vs. Girls. The final score was 2720 Boys, 1986 Girls. In this round, I was Maguro, which is sushi-talk for Tuna. I found it amusing, and so did Monty, the KA (Kitchen Assistant) who wants me to teach him Food Japanese. Oh, by the way, I dominated THIS round, also! I was a killing machine tonight! My scores were 410 as Oni, and 521 as Maguro. Man, oh man. I think the Tuna kicked the Demon's butt. Afterwards, people went to Chatter's for a beer (or 10 in their case). I stayed for one, and watched Linda play the Video Poker. She did well, and then Eric and Patty sang Love Shack, so we left. I came home and watched some Oruchuban Ebichu which is a raunchy anime that is deceptively cute and simply drawn with LOADS of sexual humor, and, in fact, sex. But it's not porn, it's too silly and unrealistic to be anything except for mildly amusing. I am enjoying One Piece so much more. It's a slapstick pirate anime with a feel-good style, and everyone seems to have some Distinguishing Characteristic. For instance, Usopp, part of the crew, has a really long nose, ala Pinocchio. Uso means lie. Usopp is a HUUUUUUUGE liar. Therefore it all fits. Okay, tired of typing. I get a couch tomorrow, yay! I hope.

Chicago and Back....

In less than 27 hours. WARNING!!! Ultra-long post!! WARNING!!! So, my Japanese Language Proficiency Test was today in Chi-town. After realizing that I am broke and couldn't afford to stay in Chicago for the weekend like I had hoped, I ended up going only for Saturday night. Let me start off with the whole day Saturday. After seeing The Last Samurai, which was good DESPITE having Tom Cruise in it, I put on my Zen tunes and crashed on the couch-bed. I woke up at 8 to feed the kitties, who were starving to death.... Then I promptly went back to sleep until 10:30. Christina calls me and asks if I wanted to go to Fenton with her to see her aunt Barb and uncle Bart. I said yes because, hey, I had nothing else to do, I get free cookies, and I always got along really well with Barb and Bart, as well as their kids, Jessica and Julie. So we go up there, Christina driving since I was going to Chicago that night, and we get there as they are cookie-ing. As a matter of fact, there is an extra aunt up there. Her aunt Linda was there also. They are looking at these cookie-like decorations, where you make a tree out of increasingly smaller (is that right?) stars of gingerbread with spacers. It looked great in the book, with the icing around the edges of it to be snow on the branches. Since I knew how to use a piping bag and icing (Thank you Food Network), I got roped into doing it. It was actually kinda fun. Later on, Bart got home and we talked a bit, Christina lost at both Chess and Checkers to Jessica, who is about 9 or so years younger than us, and we got dinner. Bart made a tasty spaghetti for dinner, with the rest provided by Barb. It was around 5:30, and I was planning on leaving around 7ish, so we headed home. We almost ran out of gas, but didn't, thankfully. Jason got there right as we did, and he came in, I grabbed a quick shower to revitalize, and we were off on the road. Jason was kind enough to join me on this road trip since I would have had to drive to Chicago alone, and 4 hours in the car alone not knowing exactly where I am going would not have been good the night before a big test. As we're heading out, he gives me my Christmas present (a bit early, yes, but he'll be out of town) which is a piece of self protection that one hopes to never have to use. The drive out there is fairly uneventful, but now I know how much toll cash it costs to get to Chicago using the Indiana Toll Road. It costs $2.80, exact change preferred. Eventually we got to the hotel, a Holiday Inn. We were surprised by the nudity on the tv, but it was HBO and something like Real Sex, but not. Apparently there is a restaurant in Bavaria where they paint the menu on the waitresses' nude bodies. No complaints here. We decided it was time to hit the lounge and have a brew. Unfortunately, it was a ghost town, and there were maybe 4 other people there who were heading home. Jason had a Labatts as per normal, but I got a Boddington's Pub Ale, which was nice and creamy and smooth. First time I had that on draft! Around midnight, Jason mentioned he was hungry when I was flipping through the courtesy book they leave in the rooms. It turns out everywhere closes AT midnight, except for this one diner we were directed to. This place was a 24 hour diner that had alcohol. Not only that, but the food was homemade, and really good. The burgers we got were 1/2lb burgers served with fries, coleslaw, AND homemade soup. All under $7.50. Not too shabby. Jason also got an MGD, since, when else was he going to get the chance to get a beer at a diner? I decided to stick with water, since I had a big test coming. Back at the room, we were both insomniacs, so we watched True Lies on tv. Always a great movie. At 9am, we were woken up when housekeeping came in. She opened the door, and I said, "Sorry, we're still sleeping!" and didn't get up till about 10:30. We checked out and got breakfast right next door. We got skillets of food. They were pretty good, but I think I should have gone with simple pancakes. Theoretically, if the directions we had were accurate, I was going to get to my test with about 20 minutes to spare. Alas, that was not to be. Construction that rivals Michigan work held us up for 5 miles, and the directions ended at the stadium, which, like Eastern's, is about 5 miles away from the campus. We turned around multiple times, asked a few people, then got to the designated parking area. Using a handy map (How handy!) we got to the correct building by jogging. Where did I have to go? The fourth floor of course, by foot. Jason and I hustled up there, and I went to take the test, and he wandered for three hours. My test was to begin at 12:40, and I got there just at 12:42. Not bad with all the mix ups. The first part, the grammar, was rough, with the kanji. The second part was listening, which I did well at, as usual. The third part, Reading Comprehension was Ultra-Kanji difficulty. I'll know in March if I was able to pull a win out of my ass or not. I am hoping yes, but guessing not. At this time, I asked yet another co-ed for directions, and we were on our way to the freeway, after gassing up. The drive home had more traffic, but was yet fairly simple to navigate home.It took under 5 hours to get back, so I was pleased with it. Jason said that if we got to Famous Dave's before it closed, then he would buy dinner. We got there with 20 minutes to spare. So, I got back safe and sound, and all under 27 hours. It was crazy good times, with a numb ass on the car seat, but it was worth it. And if I passed the test, it was WELL worth it. I think I am going to sleep soundly tonight!

The Last Samurai

Go see The Last Samurai right now! You know how some movies like Gladiator or Braveheart will evoke emotions and make you feel proud and you tear up a little? The Last Samurai blows them out of the water. It is absolutely amazing. Ken Watanabe was excellent, and, I think, definitely better than Tom Cruise. The Last Samurai does not refer specifically to Tom Cruise, but to the group. It takes place during the Meiji Reformation, wherein the Emperor Meiji decided that Japan should go modern. Unfortunately, ths also meant that the samurai were becoming outdated. A shame really, since they were the embodiment of what the Japanese people stood for for hundreds of years. I must return to Japan, to breathe that air, to see those mountains, to find the perfect cherry blossom. I felt nostalgia and pride. I felt loathing at the opposing force that would willingly wipe out a living, breathing part of the Japanese culture in the name of modernization.

Count the Spots on the Ceiling Again....

Living alone is boring when you have nothing to do. I have also found that I cannot sleep at night again. My insomnia that I thought I had gotten rid of is back. I have to watch or read something until I am exhausted to be able to go to sleep. For instance, yesterday I watched An Evening With Kevin Smith until about 4:30am. Kevin Smith is the guy who wrote Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and was Silent Bob. This was a college Q&A tour, about 3 hours of him telling stories. I almost choked to death on a Swedish Fish because I was laughing so hard. Funny stuff. But I still had a hard time falling asleep. I seem to watch a movie every night to put myself to sleep, but I enjoy the movies at the time. ARGH! I need something to do right now, but nothing is coming up. Artemis and Myst and all snuggly nowadays, sitting on top of the cat tower with each other and cleaning each other all of the time. Now, Artemis is eventually going home with Christina, and Myst is staying here. Artemis and Myst initially hated each other, but Artemis decided that the little 1 pound grey puffbal of a girl kitten was no threat to this 18lb small black male panther's territory, and they became friends. This was well over a year ago, and they are about to be separated. I feel bad for them, because Artemis has to deal with Charlie, a big dumb Cocker Spaniel puppy who won't leave anything alone, and Myst will have no playmate that she's had ever since I brought her home. Poor kitties.

Day 2...

Well, today is the second day on my own, with Christina officially living at home again. Last night we moved 2 car loads of boxes back to her place, but her stuff is largely over here, since her dad says she can't move her furniture back yet. Odd, he thinks we're going to get back together again. Can't say I blame him, we always did reconcile, but it's different now. I have never felt so alone in a bed. Not only did I first get used to sleeping in a twin sized bed with Christina, but then got used to another body in the queen sized bed I have now. Sleeping in it alone for the first time, actually knowing that nobody was going to join me soon really made me feel lonely. I hadn't ever felt like that before. I grew up, of course, sleeping alone, then I was with Christina, and now alone again, bedwise. Thankfully, Myst snuggled with me. I love my little kitty. So this weekend, I have to find some way to go to Chicago to take my Japanese Language Proficiency Test so I can attempt to get certified. I have $60 to my name and absolutely cannot spend it, what with having bunches of bills to pay and to try to get Christmas presents. Ugh, what a way to start the month. Alone and broke.